Cloud Advocacy with no conferences?

The public face of a Cloud Advocacy role looks a lot like planes and conference venues. So in the midst of the COVID-19 virus, what exactly does my role look like?

Cloud advocacy – conference room edition (Jan 2020)

Fortunately, travel was only ever one part of this fun job I get to do for Microsoft. A large portion of the ‘not so public’ work is reviewing, contributing to or creating online content. This part of the job is a natural skill for me. I’m really comfortable working from home, firing up a few hundred words from my keyboard or planning video content I can shoot at a later date. The introverted part of my nature loves the solitude of my own space, with control over the noise level (or lack of) and the ability to jump into Twitter or Teams for social interaction when I need it.

So the current travel restrictions mean I get weeks upon weeks with my family and in my home office, working on projects that get less attention when I’m travelling.

Cloud Advocacy – work from home edition (March 2020)

Right now, I’m building my first module for Microsoft Learn. That’s a learning curve in itself for me, as a Github-based platform is not my comfort zone. With very patient mentors and a whole lot of trial and error, I’m becoming more comfortable with pull requests, release branches and markdown. I can’t wait to get this first attempt live, so I can plan future modules and learning paths.

On that note – if you have an idea for something that you think would be great on Microsoft Learn, just let me know!

I also have a few spots tagged for publishing various articles on my team’s blogITOpsTalk.com. Again, hit me up with your content ideas! And I’m supporting the new Enabling Remote Work community with conversations and blog posts.

Finally, a normal part of my role is interaction with global colleagues and Redmond-based product groups, which is all done remotely anyway.

If you’d like to connect, I’m in the AEST timezone for a while and open to twitter chats and virtual coffees. Just ping me on Twitter @SoniaCuff

I’m grateful that I have the opportunity and the online platforms to keep playing with the technology I love, investigating the scenarios and questions you have, and connecting with my technical communities online. There’s plenty to do when I’m not travelling!

-SCuffy

P.S. In a regular year, I get some random opportunities to see my colleagues in person, in various places around the world. I found some photo paper at home and printed out some of my favourite moments with them: